Critics of a regional fuel tax argue that funds raised for much-needed public transport infrastructure will tend to favour better-off people who work in the CBD – the area that public transport mostly serves. So fuel tax may be regressive, taxing the poor to benefit the better off.

And most of us already spend a bunch of money on transport. To pick on Auckland again, it’s the third most expensive city on the planet to commute in, according to one study.

For a lot of people, transport costs simply can’t be avoided: they’ve got to get to work or school or the hospital. Some Wellingtonians are being forced to make harsh trade-offs in the family budget, between transport and food. A fuel tax would only make this worse.

This strain on people’s wallets has a bunch of flow-on impacts.

The Auckland City Mission produced an ’empathy tool’ based on the interviews with food bank users, that explored the reality of day-to-day life on the breadline. Transport – to get to the library to check email, drop off CVs, get to and from work – was identified as a significant barrier to escaping poverty through employment.

Relatable

It’s not just money – it’s the time chewed up by waiting for infrequent public transport or walking long distances in car-centric towns (not to mention it’s pretty unsafe if you work shifts and are doing this at night).

It’s not surprising, really, that transport can help keep (or make) people poor. Overseas evidence shows that transport barriers impact not just on access to work, but access to education and healthcare, food, and social and leisure opportunities.

Transport even matters to mental health. New Zealand’s recent mental health inquiry found community and connections are basics for mental wellbeing, and urban design plus accessible transport are key parts of the picture.

Getting people out of their cars and off fossil fuels is not just a laudable goal: we have to do it if we want a sustainable planet. It remains to be seen whether fuel tax is the right way to go.

What do you think? How do you feel about fuel taxes? Let us know! Comment below, email, tweet, or Instagram us.

One comment on “Tax(n)ation – will fuel taxes make a (good) difference?”

Amazing to read an article that addresses transport issues in a holistic way. We need to understand how low income families are trapped in a poverty cycle, with high maintenance vehicles, long distance commutes to low salaried work that is often at ungodly hours when no public transport runs.